Story by Oleen Ndori, Foreign Desk Editor
ZIMBABWE is attracting significant interest at the Osaka Expo 2025 currently underway in Japan, with officials confirming that at least 30,000 visitors passed through the country’s pavilion during the first week of the global showcase.
From the symphony of music and technology to the world’s longest revolving conveyor-belt sushi, tranquil forests and the unmissable giant robot from popular Japanese Anime Gundam- Expo 2025 is bringing the world together.
It opened its doors to the public on April 13 with the organisers targeting to reach over 28 million visitors over the next six months.
For Zimbabwe, its interactive pavilion immerses visitors to the country’s history, breath taking tourism attractions along with providing spotlight into the country’s key economic sectors.
Visitors who have been to the pavilion and have had a brief virtual reality tour of Zimbabwe told ZBC News that they have gained insight into what Zimbabwe is, its geographical location as well its mesmerising tourist attractions.
“The experience was beautiful, and I cannot wait to visit Zimbabwe,” a participant said.
“That was the first time to know of the country called Zimbabwe and I am very happy and excited hoping to visit soon,” a visitor said.
“I really had a fun time with seeing the Victoria Falls and knowing that the site is in Zimbabwe,” a pavilion visitor said.
Head of the Zimbabwe Expo 2025 Osaka Secretariat Mr Danai Majaha says the numbers are promising of a great 6 months ahead.
“The feedback so far has been positive with visitors that are coming to the Zimbabwe Pavilion, looking forward to engaging with Zimbabwe on areas of trade, investment and tourism. And the target is that by the end of the day on Sunday, we should have reached between 27 000 and 30 000 visitors to the Zimbabwe Pavilion. But in terms of visitors, we have noticed that most of the people that are coming to engage with us are from Japan, which is the host country. And the second largest group of people are drawn from Europe and from China,” Mr Majaha said.
He added that the hope is to further draw the tourist excitement into tangible business exchanges in different sectors.
“As we are now getting into the second week, the focus now is on transitioning from a growing popularity to making sure that the large number of visitors translates to increased engagement in terms of business. So, the focus as we are now getting into the second week is to make sure that we leverage on those visitors to then grow business engagements between Zimbabwe, Japan and other countries that are exhibiting here at Osaka,” Zimbabwe Expo 2025 Osaka Secretariat Mr Majaha said.
The expo 2025 Osaka will run until October 13, and it offers Zimbabwe a platform to showcase its economic potential, attract foreign investment, and tap into new markets all key areas under the economic diplomacy thrust of the National Development Strategy One.
